1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an architectural safety glass laminate provided with a decorative pattern.
2. The Related Art
A laminated glass has long been employed in both the automotive and construction industries. These laminates have generally been transparent for use as windshields or windows.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,681 (Hall et al) discloses a non-opaque polycarbonate article having improved mar, abrasion, scratch and solvent resistance. The article is formed from a polycarbonate substrate having deposited thereon an intermediate layer of photoreacted products derived of certain polyfunctional acrylic monomers. Onto the intermediate layer is vapor deposited a film of glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,769 (Goosens) reports a glass-polycarbonate resin laminate. Therein a glass layer is bonded to a polycarbonate resin layer by means of a three layered adhesive system involving different polyalkoxysilanes.
A further disclosure of reinforced glass structures is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,228 (Bolton et al). This patent teaches laminates formed of glass, ionomer resin and a polycarbonate sheet. The ionomer resin is described as an extrudable or cast substance comprising ionically cross-linked ethylene-methacrylic acid copolymers such as that available under the trademark "Surlyn" from the DuPont Company.
A number of patents describe safety glass structures provided with imprintations. Illustrative is U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,549 (Kennar) wherein glass is juxtaposed against a printed polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or a polyurethane layer. A technique is revealed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,683 (Snelgrove) for printing onto PVB sheets. See also U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,456 (Baldridge). In U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,672 (Mannheim), a laminate is decorated through thermo-impression and fixation of a PVB layer between two glass sheets.
In commerce there are available laminated glasses that have been provided with color. To secure color into the glass, an oven firing feature has usually been required. This procedure is expensive and only achieves solid colors. Attractive patterns such as marbling have heretofore not readily been achievable.
From the aforementioned patent art some progress has been made in providing decorative patterns but there still remains considerable room for improvement. Among problems found in the art is that printing interferes with adhesion of adjacent layers and the occurrence of bubble formations leading to delamination.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an architectural sheet of shatterproof glass.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an architectural sheet of shatterproof glass imprinted with a decorative pattern.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a laminated sheet of shatterproof glass whose layers are resistant to delamination even when imprinted with a decorative pattern.